A new multivariate method for determining sex of immature human remains using the maxillary first molar

Bibliographic Data

ID8319178
AuthorsChristopher Aris (0000-0002-4735-8275, Human Osteology Lab, Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation University of Kent Canterbury United Kingdom, corresponding author), Pia Nystrom (Department of Archaeology University of Sheffield Sheffield United Kingdom), Elizabeth Craig‐atkin (0000-0003-2560-548X, Department of Archaeology University of Sheffield Sheffield United Kingdom)
Year2018
Volume167
Issue3
Pages672-683
Publication date2018-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.23695
PMID30159864
OpenAlexW2888909011
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited50

OBJECTIVES: ) to determine sex in adult and immature individuals within and between populations. METHODS: dimensions were measured in 91 adults (19-55 years) and 58 immatures (5-18 years) from two English populations, one of documented sex (Spitalfields crypt) and another of morphologically-assigned sex (Black Gate). Preliminary statistical analysis was undertaken to explore bilateral differences and variation by age and sex, followed by multivariate analyses to predict sex from dental metrics. RESULTS: Both cross-validated linear discriminant analysis and binary logistic regression predicted biological sex consistent with known sex in 94.6% of adults and 90.9% of immatures. When functions extracted from the Spitalfields data were used to assign sex to Black Gate adults, consistency with morphological sex varied from 83.3% to 57.7%. A new function developed on Black Gate resulted in only a 4.8% increase in maximum accuracy but reduced bias. The immature cohort comprised 19 (52.8%) males and 17 (47.2%) females. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates substantial sexual dimorphism in a single tooth which is commonly preserved in archaeological and forensic contexts. It successfully assigns biological sex to immatures from 5 years of age with substantially greater accuracy than any other morphological or metric method. We suggest that accurate cross-population functions based on dentition require a trade-off between accuracy and applicability, and that functions extracted from populations of documented sex can be used to assign sex to other archaeological and forensic remains

Biology · Consistency (knowledge bases) · Dentition · Discriminant function analysis · Linear discriminant analysis · Logistic regression · Maxillary first molar · Metric (unit) · Molar · Multivariate analysis · Multivariate statistics · Population · Sexual dimorphism · Statistics · Zoology · Demography · dental development and anomalies · Dentistry · Forensic and Genetic Research · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Mathematics · Medicine